Here’s who bought the five most expensive homes last month

It was the busiest December in years

220 Central Park South (Credit: Google Maps)
220 Central Park South (Credit: Google Maps)

Steve Roth had a very merry holiday season.

Closings at his Vornado Realty Trust development 220 Central Park South filled all five spots of The Real Deal’s monthly list of the most expensive residential sales. The combined dollar volume of those December deals was a robust $272.5 million, according to an analysis of property records.

The eye-popping figure beat November’s total by about $30 million.

The sales came during the busiest December in years for luxury contract signings (which precede closings — sometimes by years). As of Dec. 20, Vornado had closed a total of 60 units at its Billionaires’ Row tower for $1.7 billion and shattered the record for the priciest home along the way.

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Though most of the contracts were signed several years ago when the luxury condo market was decidedly different, one of the pricey units closed within 18 days of contract signing. Here’s a look at last month’s most expensive units sold in the project that just keeps padding Roth’s bottom line.

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1. 220 Central Park South, PH 73
Daniel Och of Och-Ziff Capital Management closed on his 9,800-square-foot unit for a cool $92.7 million. The four-bedroom’s price tag was initially reported to be valued at its asking price of $100 million.

2. 220 Central Park South, #48A
New York City-based company Noble Birch (US) Inc. bought the 6,600-square-foot unit on the 48th floor for $59.1 million. The contract was signed in 2015. The buyer took out a $34.8 million mortgage from JPMorgan Chase to finance the purchase, which included a $3.8 million guest/staff condo that spans about 917 square feet.

3. 220 Central Park South, #66
Dauton66 LLC closed on the nearly 6,000-square-foot apartment for $54.5 million. The entity took out a $38 million mortgage and signed the contract in 2016. The authorized signatory on the deed, Armelle Koelf, appears to be connected to the personal holding company of billionaire Patrick Drahi, founder of telecommunications giant Altice.

4. 220 Central Park South, #59A
The 3,814-square-foot unit was bought by Liedong Ding and Haiya Bao for $36.1 million. The contract was originally signed in October 2017 and closed on Dec. 6, 2019.

5. 220 Central Park South, #34A
The four-bedroom, 3,700-square-foot unit was sold to entity SPC 34A LLC for $30.1 million. Notably, the contract was signed a mere 18 days before the transaction closed.

Write to Erin Hudson at ekh@therealdeal.com